Eight years after the death of teenager Aminulrasyid Amzah, the police and the government have yet to apologise to his family despite Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s promise of justice.
“All the family had wanted was a judgement of the court stating that wrong had been done to them, and that an innocent child had lost his life,” said the family’s lawyers N Surendran and Latheefa Koya in a joint statement today.
“The government fought the family’s legal action every step of the way.
“And this is despite the fact that Najib had, on behalf of the government, sent a letter to Aminulrasyid’s mother promising justice.
“It is appalling that eight years on, no formal apology has been made by the government to Aminulrasyid’s family,” they added.
The 14-year-old was gunned down by police in April 2010 following a car chase in Shah Alam. He had been driving his sister’s car without a driving licence.
Yesterday, the police and government had applied for leave to appeal against the general damages of RM100,000 ordered to be given to the family.
The Federal Court had yesterday dismissed the police and government’s appeals and upheld the RM114,800 damages awarded to the teenager’s family.
Initially, the High Court in Shah Alam granted an amount of RM414,800 in total damages, but this was reduced to RM114,800 by the Court of Appeal.
Surendran and Latheefa described the government’s argument in court yesterday against paying damages to Aminulrasyid’s family as “a final act of disrespect and indifference”.
They pointed out that the court had previously found the government liable for the wrongful killing of the teenager.
“Is the government’s argument in court yesterday, Najib’s idea of doing justice?” the lawyers asked.
They said the authorities had denied wrongdoing since Aminulrasyid was killed, and the family has had to fight hard for justice.
“The inspector-general of police at the time even falsely suggested that Aminulrasyid had tried to ram the police with his car.
“This malicious slander caused immense pain to the grieving family,” they said.
While yesterday’s court verdict marked the end of the family’s legal battles for justice, Surendran and Latheefa questioned whether there would ever be closure for the family’s struggle to come to terms with Aminulrasyid’s death. -Mkini
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